I Hope You're Happy Now
by Morphme
Summary: Kim and Tommy see each other after a three year absence. Emotions play a factor in all things human, including how we deal with something we feel should never have happened. Tommy is still very broken and Kim is praying forgiveness. Sometimes, happy endings aren't the ones we picture in our heads.


A/N: Hey guys! I hope everyone is well. Here I am with another one-shot. You're probably wondering why this isn't in the one-shot fic. Well, that's because it's very different from my other fics and felt like it didn't quite belong there. I wrote this after hearing the song 'I Hope You're Happy Now' by Carly Pearce and Lee Brice. I then had a very depressing day and found myself writing this. So...

WARNING! This is your warning. This is so after you read the following one-shot, I don't get bad reviews that say they had no warning. This is it. Not all stories have happy endings. Not all stories get the endings we think they deserve. I will always love Tommy and Kim and feel that their happiness was robbed. But sometimes, you gotta deal with the hand you're dealt. So, if you want happiness and fluff, this is not that.

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading and remember to R&R! I will be posting more to my other pieces in the next up coming days and weeks. Keep an eye out for that!

Enjoy!

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**I Hope You're Happy Now  
**A Power Ranger One-shot

**Kim**

_**It's all on me, it's my mistake**_

_**I said "I don't love you" a little too late**_

_**But I guess there ain't ever a right time**_

_**And I don't know why it's called a goodbye**_

The sound of music came from the wide open doors of the banquet hall. The entire parking lot was filled with cars and trucks, old classmates milling around as they caught up or chatted over smoke breaks. I even spotted a couple of our old teachers standing by the doors, greeting people as they passed. I gripped my purse tightly in my hand, feeling my nerves stand on end. I knew I should have felt more prepared for this by now but I wasn't. I also wished I had opted to stay on the other side of the country but as my mother side, it's not every day your best friends get engaged. I was here because I had to be here. It wouldn't be fair to Rocky and Aisha if I skipped such a big event for them. Taking a deep breath, I climbed out of my rental car and shut the door behind me.

My heels clicked as I walked across the asphalt of the parking lot. I managed to get inside of the building with only minor greetings to people as I walked by. I found myself in a small hallway that branched off into two directions. On the left was the bathrooms, dark brown wall paper on the walls that went with the tan colored carpet. On the right was the actual hall. It was darker in there, the lights dimmed for the uplighting on the DJ. I walked through those doors, seeing that the round tables that were set up in the large room were filled with party guests. Each table was covered in white linens and set for six people. Chatter rose into the air with the music, mixing together like a bad melody.

I spotted a bar in the far right corner and decided it would be the key place to avoid the masses for the time being. Walking over, I was greeted by the bartender. He was an older man with a grey beard and soft blue eyes. Ordering a glass of wine, I set a ten on the counter top. He took the bill, making change before setting the glass of red liquid on the counter top. I shoved the money back into my purse before picking up the wine. Taking a sip, I glanced around the room. I saw some of my old friends talking to people. Smiles were on their faces, telling me they were having a good time. They weren't feeling like they could puke at any minute. That feeling was reserved just for me, I suppose. Not that I didn't deserve it.

It had been three years since I had last been back home. I was still living in Florida, located in central Orlando. I also had two gold medals under my belt and every reason to be proud of myself. And I was. For the most part, I always felt like I was living life to the complete fullest I could and that it was only going to get brighter from here. But when I knew I was coming back here and from the moment I stepped off the plane, the pride was gone and something heavy filled its place. Guilt? Dread? Resentment? I couldn't put my finger on it, which felt like it was but it was awful.

It's all on me. I was the one who left and the one who had distanced myself from most of these people. There were a few I had managed to stay close with, mostly Trini, Jason, and Zack. But they had been my friends since grade school and none of them would allow me to just disappear without them knowing why. I was grateful for them and their friendships. Seeing them now made me realize just how much I missed seeing them every day. It made me question why I had been gone for so long. Why I had avoided coming back here for so long like the plague.

"Hi, Kimberly." A voice said behind me. Shifting my head, the reason why I had avoided this side of the country stared down at me with deep pools of chocolate in their eyes.

"Tommy. Hi." I said, feeling my breath vanish as the tall, handsome and always brooding Tommy Oliver looked down at me. He was so different now, his long hair pulled back in a ponytail but it was still shorter than when I had left. He looked down at me, a beer in his right hand that he took a sip from. The expression on his face was hard to read and I didn't want to just stare at his face.

"I didn't think you'd be coming." He said, his voice over the beat of the music behind us. It mixed well with the thundering noise in my chest.

"Yeah, well. It's not every day that Rocky and Aisha get engaged." I replied, my grip on my wine glass tight. "It's been a while."

"Yeah. Yeah, it has. How have you been?" He asked, gesturing towards an empty corner away from the music. I walked that way, moving away from the commotion. He turned to face me again, waiting for my answer. I thought I would have a bit more time before seeing him. More time to drink and gain the courage I would need to face him. This was too soon and I felt the sweat forming in my palms.

"Good! And you? How's school going?" I asked, hoping to distract him from me.

"It's been okay. Only another year to go until I'm down with my Masters. How are things with the gym? Are you still training with Coach Schmidt?" It made me feel warm inside, knowing he still cared enough to ask things like that. Most ex-boyfriends wouldn't be bothered to remember little details about their exes. Not Tommy. He'd always been the perfect guy.

It's part of what led to our good-bye.

_**Go run my name into the ground**_

_**Tell everyone you know just how**_

_**How I slammed the door on our forever**_

_**But I promise you it's for the better**_

Writing that letter had been one of the hardest things I had ever had to do. It hadn't been a lie. Looking up at Tommy now, it was still true. Some days when I think about it, I regret it. There were parts of me that wished I could turn back time and stop myself from sending it. That's not how life works though. What's done is done and it can't be changed no matter how much you wish. Life moves on and you learn to live with your choices,

I know after I broke up with him that Tommy wouldn't be one of those guys that would run his mouth about me. He hadn't been like that when we were together and I didn't suspect he would change his ways because of it. I had heard from Jason and Trini that he was upset with me, wanting to know why I basically threw our happy relationship away without as much as a warning to him. I didn't have the heart to tell him in person like I had thought about doing before leaving for Florida. It wasn't that Tommy did anything wrong that made me want to break up with him. Like I said, he was the perfect guy. He was sweet, caring, loyal. Any girl would be lucky to be with him. And I knew just that when I told him I was going to be leaving town and he swore his commitment to our relationship. He told me he would wait for me to return and possibly begin planning the rest of our lives. The only problem was that I didn't know what the rest of my life would entail for me. I couldn't commit to something when I wasn't sure exactly what the hell was going to happen in the future.

The idea of stringing Tommy along behind me when I wasn't sure about my feelings hurt like hell. We did it for a month, then two. When we reached the six month mark of our long distance relationship, I found myself unable to deal with the constant guilt. I loved Tommy. Truly. But I was beginning to understand the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. Tommy was important to me and had shaped the person I had become. But, sometimes, good things have to come to an end. I should have ended things before I left to prevent Tommy from getting hurt. I didn't mean for what followed it to happen but it did.

Matt's a good guy I meant it when I told Tommy that in the letter. He was the first real friend I made in training and he was always supportive of everyone there. Granted he was two years older than me, he still talked to me like we were equals. He reminded me of Tommy so much, I felt like I was home whenever I was around him. It only made sense that I realized I had developed feelings for him. I tried to fight it. I tried to ignore them. I couldn't though. And it was then when I realized that I had to do something before someone ended up broken hearted and completely shattered. I never cheated on Tommy and I never considered it. It's something I stand behind still to this day. I ended things before that could happen and Matt and I never even started dating until about three months after the fact. When I wrote the letter, I knew what I was doing but knew it was for the better.

I had heard about six months after the fact that Tommy was hurt from the letter, which was no shock to me. But I knew he'd bounce back. He had so much on his plate with being a leader and protector of Earth. He had so many distractions that I knew he wouldn't dwell for too long. And I was right. He graduated high school, became a racecar driver for a while, and then went off to college where he still was I guess. As I spoke to him now, I could still see those old signs of happy Tommy in his smile and behind his eyes. He was telling me about his internship that would be coming up at the end of the year and his plans for after school.

"That sounds amazing, Tommy." I said, taking a sip of my drink. "I think you're going to do wonderful things."

"Thanks." He said, a redness creeping over his cheeks. "What about you?"

"Well, you know me. Been busy with the gym." He shook his head.

"No. I meant after all that. What do you have planned?" He asked. I shrugged, rubbing my thumb over my glass.

"I'm not sure. Haven't put much thought into it really. I guess it'll all depend on the upcoming games and all. I'm sure whatever it is, it'll be an adventure in one way or another."

"Oh, I'm sure it will be. It always is with you." He smiled at me and for a split moment, I felt that old familiar weak in the knees feeling he used to give me when we were in school. I was transported back to the day we first met and when I knew I had fallen for him. Those much simpler times. And, though the memories were fondly kept in my heart, they felt safe where they were. I didn't feel like I was missing him other than how I missed my other friends. Tommy was just Tommy, the boy I loved who had grown into a man that I was talking to now. There were no everlasting feelings of love or regret to be found.

Sure, there were plenty of times I still thought of Tommy and our times together. Mostly, it was at night or when a song came on the radio that meant something to us. It used to make me sad, wondering how he was and if I had thrown something good away for nothing. But now, I knew I was doing the right thing for the both of us. Everything that had happened between us had been for the better, even the end.

**Tommy**

_**I hope you find what you were looking for**_

_**I hope your heart ain't hurting anymore**_

_**And you get moving on, all figured out**_

_**And you don't hate me somehow**_

_**'Cause I hope you're happy now**_

Kim looked amazing. It was like standing in a time machine with a memory, her long brown hair and her doe eyes making my heart ache for those times. It had been years since I had seen her, the last time she was boarding a plane to Florida. I knew when I had been invited to tonight's party there was a chance she'd be there. It was half the reason I wanted to skip and half the reason I wanted to be here.

"Do you remember that stupid play we had to do for English class?" I asked, sticking my hands in my pockets. "The one where you were a princess or something. We had to use your grandmother's spinning wheel."

"Yes! Rumplestiltskin." Kim replied, smiling. "I forgot all about that. Bulk broke it but it was fixed after Rita stuck her nose into everything, as usual."

"And Bulk ripped his pants on stage so everyone saw his underwear." She let out a little giggle, nodding.

"That was the best kind of karma I had ever seen. What about the time the putties destroyed my parade float model?"

"The one with all the flowers? Shit. I hadn't thought about that in a long time." I said, grinning.

"You saved the day. It really meant a lot to me that you fixed the model in time for the float to be in the parade." I felt the blush on my face in the dark light. I tried to hide it, hoping she couldn't see.

"I had some help. Plus, you worked so hard on it. Rita and Zedd both knew how to rain on everyone's parade whenever something was going on. You deserved to be in the parade."

"Well, I appreciate it. I appreciate everything you've ever done for me, Tommy. I know I didn't say it when we were kids but you really were a great friend to me. Even when we were together, I knew I could always count on you for everything and anything. You managed to juggle school work, being a ranger, and pretty much the perfect boyfriend without so much as batting an eye. I never knew how you did it but I don't think I ever stopped to thank you for it. So, thank you." Kim said, smiling up at me. I shook my head, scratching my hairline. Did she really mean it? Was there a part of her that still felt that she was meant to be here with me?

"It wasn't just me. You had the same amount of shit on your plate, if not more. And I could always count on you to back me up in anything without even having to ask. I'd almost consider it blind faith how much you all thought I could lead. I still think Zordon should have stuck with Jason as the lead. But Kim, you made me see my potential. You brought out the best in me and I never knew it until it was too late sometimes."

"What can I say? I'm charming." She replied, winking at me. "We had a great team and a great leader. I think it's why we all turned out so well. I mean Jason is in the Marines, Zack's an actor, Rocky is a business major, Aisha has her degree in marketing, Trini and Billy are both scientists, and Adam is an author. And well, here we are."

"Yeah. Here we are." I repeated, glancing down at my drink in hand.

"Remember when they casted that stupid love spell on me that made me fall in love with Skull?" She asked, leaning against the wall. She gazed out over at the groups in the banquet hall, not focusing on anyone it seemed.

"Oh, I remember that. You called him Skully all day. That got under my skin real quick." I said, taking a sip from my glass. She laughed, turning back to face me.

"Worse than that time we were rivals for class president?"

"That was different." I replied. "We were fighting with each other. I didn't have to worry about you sneaking off to suck face with Skullovitch." She scrunched up her face in a look of disgust.

"Even under a spell, I don't think that would have happened no matter what." She tilted her head to look up at me. It pulled at my heart, making the want linger harder and stronger. "We had a lot of fun times together. I think we didn't find them fun at the time but now that I think back, they make me smile."

"We did. I think about them all the time. Last week, Billy and I were talking about the time when I became the white Ranger. Seems like an entire lifetime ago but it was only five years or so. Hard to believe how much can change in such a little time."

"Yeah. I get that." A silence fell over the both of us for a period of time. For a moment, I could smell her vanilla shampoo and see the sun kissed tan of her skin. She still had her figure, her petiteness only added to the overall dainty appearance she had. I knew she was anything but danty though. Numerous times, I had seen her taken on bad guys three times her size. She had the bravery of someone much larger than her. That was Kim though, being larger than life and getting the most out of it. I could picture her sitting on a beach in Orlando, soaking up the sun and enjoying the day. I thought about her and what she was up to every day since she left. When she competes in the games, I always make sure to tune in so I can cheer her on from afar. Even though we hadn't spoken in years, that tension I had feared wasn't here. It felt right and natural to be standing here talking to Kimberly. Like I had just finished a work out at the Youth Center and saw her at the counter talking to Ernie.

"Do you want another drink?" I asked, gesturing to the bar. She looked down at her now empty glass and nodded. "Merlot?"

"Yes, please." She opened her wallet to pull money out but I shook my head.

"No. I'll get it." I said. She moved to close it back up but it slipped from her hand. Before she could, I bent over and picked it up from the ground. I held it out to her with my right hand. She extended her left one for it.

And that's when I saw the engagement ring.

_**Who knew this heart could break this hard**_

_**Or a love like ours could fall apart**_

_**Without so much as a warning**_

_**I thought that I was what you wanted**_

There's been three times I could remember feeling my heart break into pieces. One was when I put Kim on that plane to Florida so she could follow her dreams. When she found out she had been selected for that team, I knew I had no other option but to convince her to go. I couldn't let her give up on a chance to make all of her dreams come true just for her to hang around here with me. I also knew if I didn't, she'd resent not going and in return, resent any kind of future we would have. It killed me to watch her leave but I knew in the end, things would work out for us. That someday, she'd be back here with some Olympic medals under her belt and she'd be ready to start the rest of our lives.

The second was when I opened that letter she sent me. It had been a normal day. Rocky, Adam, and I agreed to meet at the Youth Center to get a work out in before we taught a karate class that afternoon. Kat and Tanya were there, helping some kids doing something or another. I wasn't exactly happy or over the moon. Those feelings had faded with Kim leaving. Honestly, it had felt like she had left me whenever I wasn't on the phone with her or haven't received a letter in a while. But each time I heard her sweet voice or saw her beautiful handwriting on her pink stationary, a part of me remembered why I was still waking up each day and why it would all be worth it in the end. We may have been 3,000 miles apart but my heart was still with her.

The moment Adam started reading the letter, something felt off. And when those words "I found someone else" came off his lips, it was like hearing Kimberly say them herself to me. Every hope and dream I had for the two of us shattered like a window in a bad storm. I didn't want to believe it. When I read it myself, I just couldn't let the words mean what they meant, no matter how hard my brain tried to make logic out of it. We were Tommy and Kimberly. Kim and Tommy. The Power Ranger couple who would save the world and be able to make dinner reservations until we were 50. We had planned it that way each time we laid together. Each time I kissed her, I saw the two of us growing old with our children around us. I saw us, forever.

The thought that she had met someone else just seemed to foreign to me that it never even crossed my mind as a possibility. Kim was loyal and faithful. She had been the entire time we fought on the Rangers together and I knew I could trust her with my very heart. I had assumed my heart would be safe with her as well. But the moment that the naivety of life diminished for me, all I could think about was her rolling around every guy's bed in Florida. I spent weeks and months like that, wondering if she was working her way through all the athletes on the US teams while the Olympics played on. Resentment grew for her and I realized that I hated her for making me the bitter person I had become.

But then I left the Rangers. I didn't have a team behind me anymore and the real world became and all too real thing. And I also realized I didn't hate Kim. Not even slightly. I hated the person I was without her. I still loved her with every fiber of my breathing person and I wanted nothing more in this life than to tell her so again. And I had every plan of doing that tonight if I saw her. I had rehearsed it in the car on the way here and the entire time I got ready. I would look her in the eyes, tell her I still loved her as much now as I did then and then see what happened. Ideally, she'd confess undying love for me as well and that she had made a mistake. We'd kiss, swear our love to each other, and plan out the rest of our lives. I hadn't let myself prepare for what would happen if she didn't return the feelings. Or worse.

Worse was happening as the third time my heart was breaking happened when I gazed down at that ring. Our eyes met for a slight moment as I fought for words to say. An engagement ring. As in she was with some enough to have them propose to her. And for her to agree to marry them. Kimberly was getting married. I felt the world tip slightly and I mentally steadied myself.

"Wow." I said, smiling. "Congrats."

"Thanks." She said, tucking a piece of hair back behind her ear. "I'm still not used to it, I suppose. I honestly forget it's there." How? It was big enough for the ice skating team to practice on for warm ups.

"Who's the lucky guy?" I asked, putting my hands back in my pockets. I wanted to run away screaming, wishing I had never come here.

"His name is Matt." She replied. "I told you about him."

"You did?" I asked, feeling confused. Had she mentioned a man since we started talking minutes ago? Had I been that involved in her presence that I had missed an entire conversation about her being with someone?

"Yeah. In the letter." The two pieces of my shattered heart that were hanging on by thin threads let go, dropping into the dark abyss on my dread. Matt. Matt was the man she had left me for. She had left me for him and was now getting ready to walk down the aisle to marry him. I felt like I was going to be sick. This couldn't be happening right now.

"Right. Sorry. So, how'd he ask?" Why? Why was I asking this?

"He took me out to dinner for my birthday and Valentine's Day. He got down on one knee before dessert and I said yes. I know it's been a few months but it just doesn't seem real still. We don't have anything set in stone yet. Looking like it might be next summer. Everyone will be invited! You'll love Florida, Tommy." She smiled up at me and that's when I felt the pull in my chest. The one of sad longing but also sad understanding. She was happy about getting married. This is what she wanted and she wanted me to be a part of it.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

**Tommy and Kim**

_**Well I guess you found what you were looking for**_

_**I guess my heart ain't worth it anymore**_

_**I'm a wreck, I'm a mess**_

_**And I ain't got nothing left**_

_**And so I hope you're happy now**_

As Tommy painfully took in the information of Kim's engagement, she gazed over at him. She saw the pain in his eyes but knew that it would be short lived. She had had fears since their break up that he would not be able to move on as well as her, given the circumstance of what she had done. She prayed each night for a while that he had found peace and love, even with Kat. In the beginning, she had been jealous of the idea of Tommy being with someone else besides her though she was with Matt. It took time for her to realize that if she was going to be happy, she had to let Tommy go. The love for him was still there but the idea of the two of them together wasn't.

Tommy felt like he was being ripped into pieces but he felt some relief in the happiness on Kim's face as she spoke about the wedding and her fiance. Though it hurt like a hot knife to the gut, he found himself smiling a smile that wasn't forced. He had held on to this love for her for so long that he hadn't allowed himself to live life as she had. He had floated through, hoping for the day she would return to happen for him to find more happiness. He never even entertained the idea of finding someone else or something to be passionate about. He had robbed himself from life and all it had to offer him. Though love was strong and Kim was important to him, he had let it replace all the hopes and dreams he had had for himself.

Following the letter, Tommy had let those feelings of resentment and anger take over. He often found himself wishing that Rita had picked someone else to be her ranger and that he had never gotten the chance to go to know Kimberly. Or that his parents had moved somewhere else instead of Angel Grove. Everything in him had wished for a long time that he had never met Kim and had never fallen for her. But as he spent the next hour with her catching up and laughing, he knew that it was fate that brought them together. Kim was one of the brightest parts of his life. She had introduced him to so many great things, the greatest being love itself. He had learned to love another person in all ways a person can love someone else. He had cared for her, been with her, and missed her. And lastly, he had learned to forgive her and let her be happy.

Kim had regrets of her own to deal with following her decision of writing the letter. She often found herself wishing she had told him in person or had waited to see how things would turn out with him. But she learned that in the long run, it wouldn't have been right to wait any longer and risk the friendship she had with him. She also knew that if she had tried to do it in person, she wouldn't have been able to. Because even though she had fallen out of love with Tommy, there was still that part of him that made her weak at the knees. That boyish charm and those kind eyes made her remember all those times together. That time they had shaped her into the person she had become. A person that others loved and a person that she also learned to love after a while, only after those moments with Tommy. He made her see the best in herself and how she was capable of doing anything she set her mind to. Her dreams came true because of him and she would never be able to repay him for that.

As the night came to an end, Kim and Tommy bid farewell to their other friends before heading out the doors to the parking lot. Since he had arrived late, Tommy had to park on the street in the front of the building. Kim's rental car was tucked in a spot in the back parking lot. The two hugged on the sidewalk, exchanging phone numbers with one another. He made promises of coming to Florida to visit while she told him of her plans of coming back here to pick out wedding dresses sometime in the fall. Their hands clung to one another as they spoke and Tommy found himself wishing that they could stay that way forever. Kim also found herself liking the connection they were feeling, longing for longer moments. Not because she needed him close and intimately but because she missed being so close to someone who knew her in every way a person could know someone. Tommy was her closest friend in the world and she missed him.

"It's late." Tommy said, finally drawing his hand back from hers. She nodded, clasping her hands together in front of her.

"I know. My flight leaves tomorrow night. I have a million things to do before that though. I should get going."

"Yeah. You don't want to miss that." She did though. She wished she could just stay right here with Tommy and the rest of her friends. She wished that Matt had come with her and that her life could just mesh together from her previous life while she was a Ranger.

"No. We'll keep in touch though, right?" She asked, pulling her keys from her purse.

"Of course. You can call me anytime you want. I'm even trying out that whole internet thing at my house. Maybe we could chat there sometime."

"I'd like that." Kim held her arms open for a hug again and Tommy stepped forward. She wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug and for a moment, the two stood like this. Kim felt tears in her eyes she couldn't let herself explore and Tommy wished to freeze time. Unfortunately, he couldn't. He did his best to memorize her smell and how she felt against him before pulling away.

"Call me when you get home, okay? Just so I know you're okay."

"I will. Thanks, Tommy. I had fun tonight." Kim replied.

"I did too. I really missed you, Kim."

"I missed you, too." The two looked at each other for a moment and the feeling of mutual love hung around them. Not one in need of passionate kisses or frenzied love making. But one filled with caring and friendship.

"I really hope you're happy now." Tommy said, turning towards the sidewalk. He walked backwards, still facing her.

"I am. I hope you are too." She called back. He shrugged.

"Not entirely but I'll get there. Take care, Beautiful." She smiled at her old nickname from him as she headed towards her car.

"Goodnight, handsome."

_**I hope you find what you were looking for**_

_**I guess my heart ain't worth it anymore**_

_**Hope you get moving on, all figured out**_

_**And you don't hate me somehow**_

_**I'm a wreck, I'm a mess**_

_**And I ain't got nothing left**_

_**So I hope you're happy now**_

_**Happy now**_

_**Oh, I hope you're happy now**_


End file.
